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Sunday, April 10, 2016

Tiran and Sanafir : Many Egyptians are angry , really angry

On Saturday , we suddenly found out that the current Egyptian administration gave up Egypt's Tiran and Sanafir Islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia.
Suddenly without any introductions 'except couple of articles in Saudi press' , the Egyptian

The Egyptian Flag on Sanafir 'Instagram"

government announced during the real historical unforgettable visit of King Salman that the maritime borders between Egypt and the Saudi Kingdom were redrawn and suddenly Tiran and Sanafir were Saudi Islands in the Red Sea!!
Tiran and Sanafir were disputed islands where Saudi Arabia has been claiming that they are Saudi while Egypt has been maintaining that they are Egyptian for decades including years under Israeli occupation.
Ironically , I was going to write a post about that bridge that returned back once again like a bad menace but then I found that not only we are having that bridge but Tiran and Sanafir are taken from us at the same moment.
Many Egyptians are really and sincerely angry for what happened.
You can not keep the people in dark for months then you come tell them that part of their country belongs to another foreign neighbor state.
Our problem is not with the Saudi government or the Saudi people. On the contrary , I cannot blame them for seizing the opportunity of Egypt's weakness.
In the past 48 hours , #Tiran_and_Sanafir, #Tiran_Sanafir_are_Egyptian and #Awad_Sold_his_land Arabic hashtags have been trending in Egypt and Saudi Arabia where Egyptian tweeps are slamming El-Sisi for his decision
Awad is a sad hero of some folk moral story , a peasant who sold his land for quick revenue only to be doomed.
For the first time since months , I found calls for a protest in Tahrir square next Friday against the Egyptian government's decision.
There is also an online petition calling for the cancellation of that agreement and it is attracting signatures.Yes, this could be insignificant in the eyes of the Egyptian and Saudi officials but one thing I learned for real in the past six years in Egypt : Do not underestimate public anger taking shape online.
Again I will not go not a historical or legal debate now as I am a compelling a long post with maps and history.
I am reading testimonies of experts, lawyers, national security experts and diplomats.
Personally and with all the bias in the world , I say that both Islands are Egyptian according to what I have found so far in history.
You may think it is cliché but Egypt and Egyptians paid a heavy price for those islands especially Tiran , they paid it in blood.
Since 1956 and Egyptians have been paying the price of controlling Tiran strain heavily , we paid that price in blood.We did not guard it for the Saudis , we protected it for Egypt. For decades , those two islands enjoyed Egyptian sovereignty since 1906 according to my research.
With my all respect , if the Saudis could not guard those two deserted islands in the 1950s because they did not want to have anything with Israelis leaving that mission to us , the Egyptians then we deserve to have those two beautiful islands forever.
Again, God knows how much the Egyptians paid and are still paying for Sinai including Tiran and Sanafir.
You may find what I am saying here is emotional , yes I am extremely emotional and angry in an indescribable way
You must know as Egyptians , we are attached to our land.
After all , Egypt is originally an agricultural society that evolved around the valley of the Nile. Farmers are extremely attached to their land and I feel that I am losing it and speaking nonsense.
I swear , I just cannot describe how my blood boils.
Now after two centuries for real , Egypt lost its control over Tiran strain.
Now after two centuries of political dominance , the Egyptian state gives its power to Saudi Arabia.
Now it is Saudi Arabia without Egypt and Syria.
This is not the first time Abdel Fattah El-Sisi or his government takes an important a decision with no regards to the Constitution or the parliament or the people or the future.
He did it before the Ethiopia's GERD talks and its so-called Declaration of principles.
According to the Constitution , the parliament and the people should be asked first in such decisions. There should be a society dialogue first. We are not sheep.
For God's sake , it turned out Israel knew about that deal before the Egyptian people !!!
I have never ever imagined I would feel close to how our parents and grandparents felt on 5 June 1967.
I feel that defeat bitterness. Since 25 January revolution erupted and I had those defeat moments and I think that this is one of those moments
God knows I do not want to write anything and I finished writing this post in days.
We will never forgive or forget.

12 comments
:

The Saudi gave a lot and took a lotIn five days.It is not the first time that the government took important decisions Without consulting the Egyptian People.You think the demonstrations in Tahir Square next Friday will succeed in changes ?May Allah swt Save Egypt.

As much as I like and respect and admire president Sisi and I fully understand that Egypt in her entire history haven't been in a tighter situation...but in all this I say with all honesty that I am very disappointed and to put it clear those two islands are not El Sisi to buy of sell.

Sisi is a vicious, murderous thug when dealing with medical professionals, intellectuals, citizens, and foreigners, but when it comes time to interact with other countries, he reverts to his true form: a cringing, sniveling wuss.

It should surprise no one that Arabs do not respect their dictators or the dictator apologists. Even by the standard of Middle Eastern despots, Sisi is rather pitiful.

It seems that Saudi Arabia has a reasonable claim to the islands. However, this does not change the hypocrisy of Sisi and the Sisi-Mubarak apologists who spread a fake, deceitful kind of fanatical nationalism, as well as project their own treasonous mode of conduct onto other political forces. This entire transaction shows the mendacious, vacuous nature of the askar/feloul propaganda.

“We reached an agreement between the four parties – the Saudis, the Egyptians, Israel and the United States – to transfer the responsibility for the islands on the condition the Saudis fill in the Egyptian shoes in the military appendix of the peace agreement,”said Moshe Yaalon Israel defense minister.

In 1840, the Convention of London set the island as an Egyptian territory[citation needed]. The island remained an Egyptian territory after the reduction in the eastern borders of Egypt in 1906 as agreed between Britain and the Ottoman Empire

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